PXI Express Controller will not Boot from USB Drive

Reported In

Reported In shows products that are verified to work for the solution described in this article. This solution might also apply to other similar products or applications.

Hardware

PXI Controller

PXIe-8840

PXIe-8133

Issue Details

I have a PXI or PXI Express controller and would like to re-image the controller using software such as Acronis, Symantec Ghost, or Clonezilla. I have my imaging software on a bootable USB drive, but do not see the option to boot to this drive in the BIOS.

Solution

General Steps

If your controller has both USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, try each type of port with your USB drive.

If using a USB disk drive, try using an external power source as the USB ports may not supply enough power.

In the boot menu, use arrow keys to identify any nameless entries (see below) as your USB drive may appear in the menu without a name.

Configuration for Real-Time Controllers

For Real-Time Controllers, BIOS settings need to be changed for the controller to boot from a USB drive.

Change BIOS settings on the PXI RT controller to boot from the Utility USB Drive

Turn off the PXI RT controller.

Press <Delete> as the controller starts up to bring up the BIOS. If you follow this step and you see a blank screen, press <F10>

In the BIOS, navigate to the LabVIEW RT menu using the keyboard to navigate.

Select Boot Configuration and set it to Windows/Other OS.

Navigate to the Boot menu and set the Utility USB Disk to the highest boot priority order. This will make the controller boot from the Utility USB Disk upon a restart. If the USB disk does not appear in the BIOS, ensure it is formatted as FAT32 and enable Legacy USB support under the Advanced tab.

If you are using a PXI-8108, PXIe-8108, or 8110, do the following configuration changes from this tutorial:

Navigate to the Exit menu and select Exit Saving Changes. Select Yes in the confirmation dialog.The controller will reboot immediately after saving the new BIOS settings.

Additional Information

If the Boot Configuration section of the BIOS in the LabVIEW RT tab was previously set to LabVIEW RT or Safe Mode (which is possible for a previous RT System) you will have to reboot the system after selecting the Windows/Other OS option by navigating to the Exit menu and selecting Exit Saving Changes, to then reenter the BIOS to change the boot order. This is due to LabVIEW RT and Safe Mode being unable to recognize any bootable USB devices.

Some controllers, PXIe-8135 for instance, will not show the USB Device in the BIOS. Instead you should press the <F10> key during boot and select the device in the boot device selection menu.